


A Christmas with friends

by JessicaMariana



Series: Jaca Trevelyan [5]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Merrymaking, Multi, Post-Trespasser, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 08:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5328020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessicaMariana/pseuds/JessicaMariana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's their first Christmas together as a group of friends, or maybe it's more like a big family? - and Jaca has promised herself to make it a night to remember. However a surprise to her makes her night not as fun as she hoped it would be, but thanks to a special someone it turns out all right after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Christmas with friends

**Author's Note:**

> (It's mostly just a story about a group of friends spending Christmas Eve together in the usual way one spends Christmas.)

The doorbell rang and Jaca hurried over to open, wiping her hand on her apron as he went. She opened and could not miss seeing the small gathering of her friends on the doorstep.

“Hi!” she exclaimed happily and threw out her left arm. “Good timing. Come on in!”

Bull, Cole, Dorian, Josephine, Rainier, Sera, Varric, and even Cassandra and Cullen one by one squeezed into the hallway and began taking off snow-covered shoes and jackets. As they stepped further in and wished each other a Merry Christmas, Jaca hugged them all, willing or not - but mostly willing; only Cassandra was a little hesitant - and then asked them to leave all presents under the tree in the living room. Jaca followed them once they were all inside and looked at the decorated greenery. She sighed happily - her first Christmas with her friends. She was sure it would be an Eve she wouldn’t forget.

Jaca apologised for the lack of space, seeing how Bull took up the entire back corner where she’d placed a little buffet table and which he was not hesitant to immediately grab nibbles off, but living alone she didn’t need much. Most of her friends settled on the sofa while Josephine and Cassandra joined her in the kitchen.

“It’s all almost done,” Jaca said to them as she stirred the stew.

“How you’ve managed all this on your own...” Josephine said with awe as she looked at the full pots and pans standing on every countertop in the room.

Jaca shrugged her shoulders and chuckled. She wouldn’t admit how hard it had been with only one hand, and how often she’d been close to bursting into tears of frustration.

“It smells delicious,” Cassandra added, taking a deep breath. “Is there anything we can do to help you out?”

“The table just needs setting is all,” Jaca nodded towards the other end of the room. “You can expand it. I’ve counted that we’ll all fit... even Bull.”

Josephine chuckled at her comment and helped Cassandra with the table.

 

*****

 

“Okay, in you come,” Jaca stood in the doorway to the living room a few minutes later and nodded towards the kitchen. “One at a time. Take a plate and whatever you want on it. I’ll serve the drinks. And there’s plenty to go around.”

“Alright!”

“I’m starving.”

“Smells real good.”

As they passed, Jaca simply smiled at them, but Cole who was last lingered and looked at her with his head slightly tilted to the side.

“It’s alright, Cole,” Jaca assure him, knowing he could sense the troubles she’d had earlier that day. “I’m good.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, his pale blue eyes piercing hers.

“Yes. How’s your appetite, by the way? Eating more these days?”

Cole’s face fell and his eyes went blank. “Worrying. Wanting. ‘He looks skinny. Needs some food.’” He quoted Jaca’s thoughts. “I eat, yes, but not a lot.”

“Hopefully you’ll find something good in there,” Jaca said and put her hand on Cole’s shoulder to guide him into the kitchen.

 

*****

 

As the group ate, they caught up on each others’ lives. They all lived further apart nowadays and didn’t see each other as often as they liked. Varric began to tell of what he’d been up to, what it was like to rule a city, but soon they all figured he’d began to spin a story because all of a sudden he said a giant, armoured nug had ran into the Viscount’s Keep and that he had been attacked by it.

“No shit!” Varric said, laughing into his glass. “True story. Ask Aveline, she was there. But my story’s not as good as Jaca’s.”

Suddenly all eyes were on Jaca, who almost choked on her drink. She had no idea what Varric was talking about. They’d all been present when she lost half her arm, and nothing significant had happened since then.

“What?” she said with a cough, feeling confused. She looked at Varric sitting opposite her.

Varric simply laughed. “I know you’re hiding something. You’ve got that look on your face: like someone caught you with the hand in the cookie jar.”

“Hmm, I have to say I agree,” Bull joined in and squinted at Jaca from the end of the table. Of course, now everyone believed it, knowing Bull could read a person’s face like an open book.

“Well, it’s not something I’ll share,” Jaca muttered. She felt her cheeks redden and let her eyes fall to her lap. Of course they’d notice sooner or later: but had they seen the longing glances she shot at Bull? She probably hadn’t been very discreet. But she was so awkward she couldn’t just tell him outright. She was simply hoping he’d catch on and do something about it. If not… well, then nothing would happen. She was already unsure if anything would happen between them. Last time she’d gone out with Bull and Dorian, it had seemed like the two of them had had something going on.

 

*****

 

After dinner the friends took their glasses and squeezed into the living room. Bull wasn’t allowed to sit on the sofa or no one else would have room on it, so he settled on the floor next to the tree and therefore somehow became the Santa of the night and would give out the presents which were lying so neatly beside him. Jaca joked that he should have a big fake beard, and the image had everyone laughing.

“Then maybe Rainier should be Santa,” Dorian noted. “He’s the hairiest. Or at least he used to be. It’s odd seeing you all shaved,” he turned to Rainier with a raised eyebrow.

“Pfft!” Sera butted in. “Have you seen Varric’s chest hair? Being all fuzzy like that… I’m not sure.”

“Chest hair is not the same as a beard, dear.”

“And Cassandra!” Sera continued, to which Cassandra gasped and said: “What about me?”

“She’s got hair… in places. Probably. I know Inky does. And Cullen. And Josie. You all do!”

Jaca chuckled. “But the question was who’s got the beard, not the most hair.”

“Right. Then, yeah, it’s Rainier, innit? Or was. Bull couldn’t grow a beard. Pfft!”

“Hey, whoa!” Bull raised his hands up in front of him. “I could grow a beard,” he said confidently.

“I bet you get one every time you and Dorian get stuff going. You know… Because when you go down on him-!” Sera broke out in full laughter. “Or does he shave it to match his moustache?” she laughed even harder, rocking back and forth on the sofa.

Cassandra let out a disgusted grunt and rolled her eyes, Varric laughed with Sera, and Cullen pretended not to be bothered by such an intimate topic by looking around the room, but Jaca didn’t know how to react. So it was true, then? Bull and Dorian were together?

Jaca felt the smile on her lips fade, but quickly reminded herself that Cole was in the room and didn’t want an awkward scene where he recited her feelings to everyone, so she excused herself.

“I’ll be right back, you lot just keep doing what you’re doing,” she said with an apologetic smile and left the room. She could feel Cole’s eyes follow her until she was out of sight. She locked herself in the bathroom.

“So, Dorian, about last night...” she could hear Bull talk really loudly - most likely the result of a couple of drinks too many.

“Discretion isn’t your thing, is it?” Dorian sighed.

“Three times!”

Jaca felt her heart sink as she slumped down onto the floor, leaning heavily against the door. She was cold all of a sudden and wanted nothing more than to sink through the floor. Now there was no chance she’d ever tell anyone of her feelings towards Bull. She knew she should’ve taken the chance when she had it. But no, she - Jaca Trevelyan, the saviour of Thedas - was too timid. She cursed under her breath and pulled up her knees to her chest.

“It’s Christmas Eve,” she reminded herself. “I can’t let this ruin the night. This is my present: a new beginning - get over him. It’s just Bull. He’s obnoxious. He’s loud. He’s... ” She tried hard to cheer herself up, but the more she made it clear that she could not have who she wanted, the more it hurt. Her eyes began to sting and she immediately wiped the moisture from them. They’d all see she had been crying.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. In a slight panic Jaca wondered how long she’d been gone.

“Jaca?” came a soft voice from the other side.

At first she didn’t recognise it because of its softness, but then placed it as Rainier’s. That made her confused. Why would he be the one to come knocking? Maybe he just needed to use the loo. Jaca got back on her feet and cleared her throat.

“I’ll be right out,” she said, surprised at how even her voice was. She’d always been a good liar. She looked at herself in the mirror and felt pleased over how little she’d changed in the last few minutes. Her eyes weren’t as red as she’d feared. She flushed, just to give the illusion she hadn’t just locked herself in the bathroom for no reason, and washed her hands. When she opened the door, Rainier stood right next to it. He turned to her and held the door slightly closed, so they could only see each other.

“Listen,” he said, his rough voice low so only she could hear it. “You might think I don’t pay attention to much, but I can tell there something going on. Also, Cole seems to have been keeping an eye on you since we arrived. Now, I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but if you do… I’m here.”

Jaca looked up at him. His smile made the soft bags under his eyes crinkle. Jaca couldn’t help but smile back.

“Thanks,” she said. “Not right now. Maybe in a bit.”

“Right.”

He then hugged her. His shirt felt incredibly smooth and cool against her hot cheek as she leaned it against his shoulder. He smelled nice too. It was oddly comfortable, standing in his embrace, considering she had never been so close to him.

After a moment, Jaca cleared her throat and leaned back.

“We should get back,” she said, and Rainier said he’d use the bathroom first. But Jaca thought it was only to make sure no one suspected anything going on between them.

Jaca joined her friends in the living room who by now had started singing Christmas carols in a horrifyingly bad chorus, ranging from high pitched screeching on Sera’s side, who surely was doing it on purpose, to Bull’s drunken baritone. Not only did their voices not go together, but they all seemed to be singing different songs at different paces. Jaca shook her head with a smile and continued into the kitchen for another drink before interrupting the singing to announce that it was high time to hand out the presents.

“It’s heartwarming,” Rainier said from behind Jaca, making her almost jump out of her skin. “Seeing friends come together like this. We should do it more often.”

“Maybe not the drinking bit,” Jaca sighed, looking at Bull who was in the progress of dragging Dorian down into his lap. “I’m sure my neighbours will hate me tomorrow.”

“Nah, they’ll understand - it’s Christmas!”

Jaca clinked her glass to Rainier’s beer bottle and drank to that.

“Okay! Okay! Okay! Okay!” Jaca said and stepped into the middle of the room, stumbling over Sera’s feet resting on the coffee table. Everyone went silent and waited for her to continue. “Presents,” Jaca said, as if she was beginning to tell a horror story. Bull, if you please...  let Dorian go, and then do the thing.”

“The thing?” Bull said, raising his eyebrows. “Which one? I can think of many things to do.”

“Presentsss,” Jaca repeated, turning towards him with a frown. “Presents, Bull. Hand them out.”

Bull didn’t let go of Dorian, but rather let him sit even more comfortably in his lap, then did as he’d been told. One present after another was handed out, opened and thanked for. It was mostly mundane things - things people needed and/or would use - but now and then came a package from Sera or Cole, who in their own special way had picked something out for their friends. Laughter broke out among exasperated sighs and blushes from the recipient.

When the space beneath the tree was empty, the party became calmer and everyone seemed to grow tired. Jaca couldn’t stop watching Bull and how he nuzzled Dorian behind the ear or how he pressed light kisses to his neck and shoulder, or how Dorian reached back and stroked his hand absentmindedly up and down Bull’s neck.

“Hey, someone kiss my butt!” Sera stumbled back into the living room from the hallway with the mistletoe Jaca had hung in there. Sera turned around and dangled the little bouquet over her ass. “Who were you hoping to kiss, Inky? Having stuff like this hanging around.”

“Whoever wanted to be kissed,” Jaca shrugged. “You really want one, Sera? Come here.”

Jaca gestured for her to come closer and grabbed Sera by the waist and pulled her down into her lap. She gave Sera a quick peck on the cheek. Shyness be damned - Jaca had had enough to drink not to care anymore. Bull would soon be forgotten. Jaca would be all about making everyone else happy for the rest of the night.

“Ooh, Her Gracious Ladybits, how daring!” Sera pretended to faint in her arms, throwing the mistletoe over to Cullen, who picked it up and set it aside on the table.

“What, no one you want to kiss, Cullen-wullen?” Sera teased. “Cully-wully.” She snickered.

“No,” Cullen retorted quickly with a blush.

“Cassandra wants one, I can tell,” Sera climbed out of Jaca’s lap and straight over to Cassandra next to them and planted a wet kiss right on her lips. Cassandra struggled to get Sera off her but didn’t say anything - she actually laughed - when Sera left to kiss Josephine next. Jaca glanced around at her friends. For some reason her eyes lingered on Rainier.

“Don’t come near me with that, Buttercup,” Varric exclaimed when Sera picked up the mistletoe to decide who’d get the next kiss - not that she’d kiss them all, but someone would “get kissed by someone or another”.

“Rainier!” Sera shouted happily and giggled, and Jaca froze. Had Sera seen how they were exchanging glances? “I know you and Josie wanna smooch.”

“Sera, that’s preposterous,” Josephine gasped, but the smile on her face could not be hidden.

“I’ll kiss every lady who wants me to,” Rainier said and bowed theatrically where he stood.

“You’re doing it wrong!” Sera complained, but Rainier had already confiscated the mistletoe from her hands and was dangling it in front of himself.

“How about you, Sera?” he teased, pursing his lips. “There’s no beard to make if feel funny. For all we know I could be a woman now.”

“Yeah, ugliest woman ever, then.”

Rainier let her go and lowered the bouquet, feeling his joke wasn’t as funny as he’d initially thought. He turned it over in his hands.

“How about you, Cole? Ever kissed a girl?”

Cole made a face at the suggestion.

“I see, I see,” Rainier chuckled. “No harm in not liking girls. Boys then?” But Cole made another face. “Don’t worry about it. Maybe one day. If not, well, no harm in that.”

Jaca then got off the sofa and rounded it to where Cole was sitting in the corner on top of the earlier buffet table. She stroked his blond hair off his face and kissed him on the cheek, then gave him a gentle smile and a hug. As she hugged him she whispered a faint “thank you” into his ear. He said nothing, just looked at her as she sat back down with the others.

By then Rainier had put the mistletoe down and Sera had tossed it over to Bull and Dorian, giving up on getting anyone else to kiss. Jaca saw the two on the floor give each other a look and then turn to face one another. She took a long swig of her drink and looked away as their lips were just about to meet, and once again her eyes met Rainier’s. Was he watching her all the time, or did he feel when her eyes were about to rest on him and so looked at her first?

Jaca bit her lip. She was starting to feel a warmth spread through her chest each time she looked at the older man. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was just the comfort he was willing to provide, or maybe it was just her mixing up her feelings. But she liked it. There was a warmth in Rainier’s eyes that she hadn’t seen anywhere else before, not directed at her at least, and even though she was still in love with Bull, she could imagine spending more time with Rainier. Now she wished they would be alone - just Rainier and her.

Dorian suddenly stretched in Bull’s lap and yawned. “Well, I think it’s about time to-”

“Go home?” Bull finished, suddenly looking excitedly at his lover, and when he noticed the questioning looks, he explained: “Dorian says he’s got another present for me waiting back home. I bet it’s sex.” He looked at Dorian who had a defeated look to him. “It’s sex,” Bull added surely.

“You kids go have your fun,” Varric said.

Bull and Dorian got all their presents into a bag and then left the rest of the company. Soon Cassandra excused herself as well, and Cullen soon after her. At that, Varric sighed: “Oh, come one Curly. Let’s play a game of Wicked Grace before you leave.”

Jaca didn’t know how he managed to convince Cullen into playing, but play he did, shortly after which he lost his third, fourth and fifth round against Josephine. She was ruthless.

“I am never playing with you again,” Cullen cried as he gave her the last bill from his wallet.

“You should consider yourself lucky she spared your clothes,” Rainier laughed. “This one time I taught Solas how to play Diamondback and I lost everything - and I mean _everything_.”

“Come, Cullen,” Josephine said with a quirk of her lips. “I shall buy you the cab ride home. Will you join me?” And so Josephine and Cullen left with Cole behind them, followed by Varric.

“Just me left, then,” Rainier commented as Jaca closed the door behind Varric.

“Don’t forget Sera,” Jaca said. She sighed. “She’s out cold, isn’t she?”

Rainier chuckled. “Isn’t she always?”

“I’ll let her stay there. But I should tuck her in or something.”

Jaca went into the living room and draped a blanket over Sera’s lean figure lying on the sofa. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Rainier standing right behind her. She turned around to face him and they were only inches apart.

“How are you?” he asked quietly.

“I’m good,” Jaca reassured him with a smile. “Really. This was fun.”

“About earlier… is there anything I can do?”

“Just...” Jaca didn’t know how to say it. She wanted him to kiss her, to close the distance, but she couldn’t say it.

Rainier seemed to know, however, because he leaned down and locked the lips together. Jaca let her eyes slide shut and relaxed into his strong embrace as he wrapped his arms around her. He stepped closer, pressing his body against hers. She parted her lips slightly and felt Rainier’s tongue slide against them. The alcohol in his breath was almost overwhelming, but she reminded herself that she probably didn’t smell any better.

Rainier hummed before stepping back, his arms sliding down Jaca’s back to rest on her hips.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” he admitted, a faint blush creeping up his already pink cheeks.

Jaca laughed nervously, not knowing exactly how to respond.

“Tell you what-” Rainier left her side and rounded the sofa. He picked something off the coffee table and held it out above himself as he returned to Jaca’s side. “There is a reason you have it, isn’t there? I know you were hoping for someone else, but if you’ll have it, I’ll give you a kiss under the mistletoe.”

Jaca’s smile spread so wide that she had a hard time stopping when Rainier leaned down to kiss her once more.

“Come...” she pushed Rainier away and took his hand, and then pulled him out of the living room, across the hallway and into the bedroom, making sure to lock the door behind her.

It turned out to be a merry Christmas after all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you wish to spread this on tumblr, please reblog it from me: [lustfullygazing](http://lustfullygazing.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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